Games of many types are played in bars, arcades, homes, and other public and private establishments. In bars, taverns, and like places, games can be provided on bar tops, side tables, and other areas. These games typically include a video screen and buttons or other controls for the player to influence objects and events portrayed on the video screen. Common “bar-top” games include card games (poker, blackjack, solitaire, and the like), quiz games, sports games, and the like. Bar-top games typically provide a score based on the player's performance during the game and may also provide a high score list, which provides incentives for players to perform well.
In game arcades, convenience stores, and the like, more involved games are often offered, such as stand-up arcade video games, pinball games, and mechanical or carnival games. Some of these types of games are offered as redemption games, which dispense redemption tickets to players based on player performance during the game and/or a game score that the player achieves. A player can exchange dispensed redemption tickets for prizes available at a prize display area, such as a prize booth or a prize vending machine, where such prizes as stuffed animals, models, other toys, small music devices, T-shirts, food, and the like are available. Each prize has an associated cost or “price” in terms of redemption tickets, which the player can pay to redeem the prize. A player may collect tickets over time to save up for larger prizes that may have higher ticket prices.
One problem with the redemption games in the prior art is that maintaining a redemption system can be very involved for the operator of the arcade, to the point of being burdensome. For example, operators must maintain a prize booth or vending machine, which displays all the prizes the operator wishes to make available. Requiring even greater maintenance is the setting and adjustment of ticket costs or prices of the prizes. The operator must determine how many tickets are paid, on average, by each game in the arcade and then determine the price of each prize in terms of tickets and in view of a desired profitability level. The operator knows the cost of the prizes that he or she paid, can come up with a crude estimate of average ticket payouts to players, and can thus estimate ticket costs with a rough profitability in mind. But the task can become overwhelming when a large variety of prizes are offered and many different types of games can be played, each game having a different ticket payout and difficulty level. Many arcade operators end up simply providing very gross estimates of what prizes should be worth in tickets, with no exact or global level of profitability in mind. This may lead to extra or unknown costs which can be magnified over time when large numbers of prizes are redeemed by players.
In addition, the prior art redemption games and redemption systems are not suitable for bars, taverns, and other, non-arcade public places, such as stores, hotels, food establishments, and the like. There is a very large potential pool of redemption game players in such places. This is because the games typically offered in bars and like places often have low appeal to players due to the absence of any sort of tangible award or prize that is received by playing the game. For example, the bar-top and other games typically found in bars may quickly get uninteresting if the only reward a player receives is to put his or her name on a high-score list.
However, non-traditional gaming environments such as bars are not very suitable for supporting redemption systems like those found in gaming arcades. The proprietor or bartender of the non-arcade environment often does not want to provide a booth or area to display available prizes for players due to the additional maintenance and staff needed for such a display area. More importantly, the proprietor typically does not have the knowledge to properly adjust payouts of redemption games and offer prizes with proper and profitable ticket costs. Even if the proprietor has such knowledge, the small numbers of games and/or the secondary role of games in non-traditional gaming environments does not warrant providing a prize display area. It does not warrant the abovementioned overhead by providing and counting the many tickets that players may accumulate and provide/maintain ticket costs for various prizes in view of a desired profitability of the games.
Other gaming environments for players include homes or other private places. Players have been able to play board games, computer games, video games, and the like, at home or other private environments for a long time. However, with the widespread use of standardized large-scale networks such as the Internet and World Wide Web in recent years, players of video and computer games at home are offered an environment to compete with each other which was not widely available to game players before. A player can connect a home computer, video game console, set top box, or other device to the Internet using telephone lines, cable TV lines, or other connections to the home. The player can thus play games offered to the player from a remote server or other source. The player can also compete or otherwise interact in a game with hundreds or even thousands of other players who are also connected to the Internet.
However, although a wide array of options is available for home game players, players typically cannot play games from home to receive prizes. Players may often desire to receive a prize after playing a game or participating in a tournament, but no standardized prize redemption system is provided to home players. Any administrator of such a prize redemption system faces the same problems and overhead as described above when attempting to organize ticket winnings and offer prizes at ticket costs adjusted for a desired profitability.
With the widespread use of standardized, large-scale, wide-area networks, such as the Internet and World Wide Web in recent years, video and computer games that were previously limited to play at the location where they were located can now be offered in a new type of environment. Such an environment allows a game provider to afford access to a network gaming system with numerous games of a tremendous variety to a vast number of remotely-located players having diverse demographics and profiles.
There are many variables when implementing a network gaming system on the Internet and World Wide Web. In the past, providers have been restricted to a “one-size-fits-all” approach to implementing a network gaming system, which has made it very difficult when attempting to tailor many variables in order to satisfy a multitude of diverse players located in a large number of different locations.
One variable that network gaming system providers encounter includes the choice of games provided to players of the system. Games can come in a variety of forms including games with different theme genres, games of skill and chance, and even games targeted to particular ages and genders of players. Many issues arise when choosing games to suit a diverse pool of players. Some games featuring violence, nudity, or certain types of adult themes may not be suitable to players under a certain age. Further, playing games of chance may also be illegal for underage players and for players residing at particular locations. Because of these factors, network gaming providers are challenged to find good ways for controlling access to such games by players of certain ages and in certain locations.
Selecting and presenting advertising for a wide range of products and services is another set of variables that providers may encounter when implementing a network gaming system. In the past, it has been very difficult for providers of network gaming systems offering a large number of games and having a diverse selection of users to effectively target advertising to particular segments of their users.
In order to better attract users to a network gaming system, a provider may wish to offer prizes to users for playing games on their system. However, a provider is forced to overcome several more difficulties when trying to implement an effective prize awarding and redemption scheme for a network gaming system having a large number of games and a diverse selection of users. Now, for example, the provider must manage a multitude of other variables including the types of prizes to be awarded, the number of prizes to awarded, the value of the prizes to be awarded, and the amount of prizes awarded, the criteria for awarding prizes, and the procedures for redeeming prizes awarded through play on the system.
With respect to prize redemption, providers encounter several problems in satisfying a large, diverse, user base and providing a sufficient impetus to prompt users to continue purchasing games. Decisions as to which types and amounts of prizes to award can become very problematic when trying to provide incentives, which entice players to continue to play. For example, a middle-age male may not be enticed to play a game when available prizes are limited to toys. In a similar fashion, a teenager may not continue to purchase games when what is at stake is an electric razor or cufflinks.
Decisions relating to prize rewards are not limited to the types of prizes that are awarded. Distribution of prize rewards also plays a role in maintaining a large, satisfied user base. It is in the best interest of the game provider to maintain an even distribution so that as many players as possible reap a reward for continued play.